Our Family Advisors
Grace Bulltail, Aunt of Kaysera Stops Pretty Places
(Missing and Murdered in Montana, 2019)
Grace is originally from Montana. She is a member of the Crow Tribe and a descendant of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes of Fort Berthold, North Dakota. Grace is an assistant professor in the Nelson Institute for environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Grace completed a doctoral program in the biological & environmental engineering department at Cornell University. Grace’s research interests include water resource management, water policy, Tribal sovereignty, and watershed impacts from natural resource development. Grace is currently a member of American Indian Science & Engineering Society Board of Directors and is a professional engineer licensed in the state of California.
For more information, please visit, JusticeForKaysera.
Leanne Guy, Sister In-Law to Laverda Sorrell
(Missing and Murdered in Arizona, 2002)
Leanne is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and currently lives and works in the Phoenix area of Arizona. Leanne is the founding executive director of the Southwest Indigenous Women’s Coalition, the first statewide Tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalition in Arizona. Before her current position, Leanne was the Ama Doo Alchini Bighan, Inc. executive director, a nonprofit, community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services program located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Through this work, Leanne has been a member of numerous national, state, and local task forces, committees, and coalitions dedicated to ending violence against women and children. Her previous experience includes working for the Indian Health Service and other nonprofit agencies in women’s health, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Leanne has over 20 years of experience in Tribal community health promotion and public health and safety initiatives. One of the many blessings she has received in working with Tribes is getting to know the people—hearing their stories, observing their customs, seeing their land, and sharing their food. Leanne advocates for social change and justice and is passionate about the work to end violence against Native women and children. Growing up in a violent home and being a survivor of bullying, Leanne is very aware of the impact of violence on families and the importance of having coordinated and informed systems in place that provide advocacy, support, and justice for the safety of women's safety and children.
Malinda Limberhand, Mother of Hanna Harris
(Missing and Murdered in Montana, 2013)
Malinda Harris Limberhand, an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was born and raised in Lame Deer, Montana, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Her Cheyenne name is Sacred Water Woman. Malinda is the mother of two girls, Rose and Hanna, and she has one grandchild who she is now raising. Malinda’s youngest daughter, Hanna, was murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation on July 4, 2013. Because of non-responsive law enforcement and inaction, the family organized their own search and four days later found Hanna murdered. Malinda has been a beacon of strength to her family and the community in the aftermath of Hanna’s murder, organizing local walks, speaking engagements, and meetings with Montana’s congressional delegation to raise awareness about the lack of adequate response when Native women go missing. Even while raising her grandson and surviving her own cancer diagnosis and treatment, Malinda’s advocacy helped establish May 5th as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, which is also observed by Indigenous grassroots advocates and communities in Canada and throughout the world.
Rose Harris, Sister of Hanna Harris
(Missing and Murdered in Montana, 2013)
Along with her mother Malinda, Rose Harris (Me’eoo’e, Stands in Sight Woman) has advocated for her sister Hanna Harris who was murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation on July 4, 2013. Rose has assisted with search and rescue efforts on her Reservation and across the state, organizing local walks and marches, speaking at various events, and meeting with Montana’s congressional delegation to raise awareness about the lack of adequate response when Native women go missing. Through her advocacy with her mother Malinda, May 5th has been designated the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.
Patsy Whitefoot, Sister of Daisy Mae Heath
(Missing and Murdered in Washington, 1987)
Patsy (Yakama/Diné), Educator and MMIWG Activist, was born and raised in the homelands of the Yakama Nation in central Washington. Her elder’s vision for Tribal education inspired her to earn a BA in Education with a Teaching Certificate and an MA in Education from Central Washington University. For 47 years, she has worked primarily in managing and teaching Indian education, including serving on the Yakama Tribal Council. She has been a leading voice and activist in addressing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s crisis in Washington and nationally.
Today, Ms. Whitefoot is retired and continues to work and live in White Swan, where strong Tribal roots have survived. For 30 years, Patsy has served as the Education Chair of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. Her vision for the health of her people is steeped in her ancestral knowledge formed by indigenous languages, cultures, and histories, tied to the rich landscapes.
Patsy is part of the War Cry podcast team, which you can stream here. She is also a member of the Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force.
